Executive Summary

Linea Aqua is a high-performance swimwear manufacturer in Sri Lanka and has performed exceptionally well during the past few years. However, certain external environmental factors have created a number of threats to the organization, and the objective of this report to identify these external environmental factors and make strategic recommendations in terms of managing these potential threats.
The report will identify the most significant environmental factors, a potential textile cluster in Sri Lanka and the growing dialogue on sustainable textiles in the industry. Based on the strategic options to address these issues, an in house R&D team to invent a sustainable high performance swimwear material was recommended, and the implementation and change management of this strategy has been discussed in detail to ensure the success of the proposed strategic direction.
Introduction
Linea Aqua is a leading swimwear manufacturer in Sri Lanka. The swimwear operation is a part of the larger MAS Holdings, which is one of the largest apparel manufacturers in Sri Lanka. The brand, Linea Aqua caters to a worldwide customer base, with a joint partnership with the international brand, Speedo swimwear. The brand has established and edge for it in the market through its innovative approaches, high quality products and commitment towards the wellbeing of its people (MAS, 2018).
This report will evaluate the current strategy of Linea Aqua, by way of a comprehensive external environmental analysis of the organization and possible future scenarios that may arise from the changes in its external environment. With these future possibilities in mind, the report will go on to conduct a comprehensive resource gap of Linea Aqua, and then evaluate the existing business strategy and its performance. The report will build on this to provide additional strategic options or future strategic options the brand could explore, and will select one such option and provide a strategic implementation plan with recommendations on how the shift can be managed. The report will then be concluded with and overall view on how the strategy of the organization can be improved and upgraded with evolving strategic objectives.
1. Comprehensive external environmental analysis of Linea Aqua and possible future scenarios
The external environmental analysis of the organization provides us with an insight as to possible external, and thereby uncontrollable factors that may have an impact on the future of the business. This evaluation is done based on the PESTEL model (Kotler, 2016). Based on the external environmental analysis conducted (Refer Appendix 1), the following key factors have been identified as factors that may have a considerable impact on the future operations of Linea Aqua.
The proposal to create a textile cluster in Sri Lanka is one such key political and economic change that will impact the operations of Linea Aqua (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2017). Considering the motive behind the government to propose the same, where it aims to empower the local manufacturing of threads and fabrics as opposed to the massive expense of the industry importing the same, there can be serious quality and variety implications in terms of the availability of special material. In addition, the investment on the same will indicate additional taxes on imported threads and fabrics, which will create negative implications for Linea Aqua as the high-performance swimwear requires specialized thread and material. Thus, Linea Aqua must be ready for increasing raw material costs and legal obligations in terms of purchasing their threads and fabrics.